Our climate commitment in action

In 2023, Qonto embarked on a three-year partnership with EcoVadis, a global provider of sustainability ratings. This collaboration is part of our broader strategy to integrate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria into our purchasing processes and contractual relationships with suppliers and partners.

Our approach is structured and tailored to our involvement with each supplier. We adjust our ESG evaluation requirements based on two key factors: the budget committed to the supplier, and the level of partnership we have with them.

For suppliers assessed by EcoVadis, we've established specific minimum scores they must meet to align with our sustainability standards.

This initiative allows us to systematically evaluate and improve the sustainability performance of our supply chain, ensuring that our partners share our commitment to responsible business practices.

Financed emissions are greenhouse gas emissions that companies face whenever they place money with a financial institution, invest, or use other financial services. Qonto’s financed emissions, generated by the companies and projects we support financially, are part of our Scope 3 emissions and represent a significant portion of the global carbon footprint in the banking sector.

At Qonto, our financed emissions come from two main sources: our clients' funds (money in their accounts) and our own investments. Recognizing the growing importance of this issue, we partnered with Carbon4 Finance in 2024 to assess these emissions and complete our Scope 3 assessment.

We believe tracking financed emissions is crucial:

1. It provides a more comprehensive view of our environmental impact.

2. We anticipate it becoming a regulatory requirement in the near future.

By taking this step now, Qonto aims to be as transparent as possible about its environmental responsibility. We acknowledge this is a complex process with ongoing improvements, but we're committed to understanding and acting on our full carbon footprint.

ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles guide our overall business practices, with environmental sustainability being a key focus. Our sustainability efforts, as detailed throughout this page, form the core of the 'E' in our ESG approach.

Integrating environmental considerations into our governance structure places sustainability as a fundamental part of our decision-making process. This approach allows us to align our growth strategy with environmental responsibility and engage internal and external stakeholders in our sustainability journey.

Find out more about our complete ESG strategy, including our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

In November 2023, we launched recycled-PVC cards as part of our commitment to sustainability. This significant change has already made an impact:

• Each recycled card reduces CO₂e by an average of 13g compared to non-recycled alternatives.
• We've decreased the volume of raw materials used per card, despite an increase in overall card production emissions due to our growth.

The plastic in the cards is also fully recyclable. And we're even actively working on reducing the carbon footprint of the packaging.

While payment cards make up a small part of our overall emissions, they're our only physical product. So, innovating in this area shows that it's possible to grow responsibly, considering sustainability at every level of our operations.

It also means that choosing a recycled-PVC Qonto payment card can help your business in its sustainability journey.

Qonto is committed to a proactive and transparent approach to long-term sustainability. Key elements of our strategy include:

1. Early CSRD compliance. While the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires our first report in 2026, we aim to release our inaugural sustainability report a year earlier in 2025, demonstrating our commitment to transparency and accountability.

2. Comprehensive reporting. Our sustainability reports will cover environmental, social, and governance issues, providing a holistic view of our impact and efforts.

3. Methodical approach. We're focusing on developing a factual, science-backed approach to setting and achieving short-, mid-, and long-term targets. This involves continuous learning and adaptation as we navigate complex sustainability challenges.

4. Stakeholder engagement. We're committed to supporting and engaging our employees, suppliers, and clients in our sustainability journey as our partnerships develop.

We recognize that this is an ongoing journey with much to learn and tackle, but we're committed to playing our part in creating a more sustainable future for our industry and beyond.

As a growing company, it's natural that our GHG emissions will increase in real terms. However, our goal is to ensure that our emissions grow at a slower rate than our business – this is what we mean by reducing emissions "relative to growth".

We measure this using two key performance indicators (KPIs):

1. For Scope 1 & 2 emissions (related to our offices, energy, and heating): we look at tons of CO2 emitted per number of employees.

2. For Scope 3 emissions (linked to our cost structure; excluding financed emissions): we measure tons of CO2 emitted per euro of revenue (excluding Net Interest Income).

By focusing on these relative metrics, we can assess whether we're becoming more efficient in our operations and spending as we grow. Our aim is to grow our business faster than we grow our emissions, resulting in a net reduction in emissions intensity.

Our latest results demonstrate success in this approach: Qonto's business growth has outpaced the growth of its CO2 emissions, indicating more sustainable operations compared to 2022.

This strategy allows us to balance our ambitions for business growth with our commitment to environmental responsibility. Improving our emissions efficiency is helping us work toward decoupling our growth from environmental impact – a crucial step in the journey to long-term sustainability.